Pterichis tunguraguona Rchb.f. ex Szlach. & Kolan. 2014 SECTION Acraea
TYPE Drawing by © S Nowak and Marta Kolanowska
Common Name The Tunguraghua Pterichis [A volcano in Ecuador]
Flower Size
Found in Ecuador in paramo, in montane forest and on trails at elevations of 2900 to 3660 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing terrestrial with a single, narrowly elliptic, obtuse to acute, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the summer, fall and winter on an erect, glabrous, peduncle 5.4 to 9.2" [13.5 to 23 cm] long, provided with 3 to 5 tubular sheaths, rachis 1.8 to 6.8" [4.5 to 17 cm] long, sublaxly 7 to 15 flowered inflorescence with lanceolate to elliptic, sparsely ciliate, as long as to shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying white-yellow or olive-green flowers with weak brown-green striped sepals, yellowish petals basally red brown tinted, and a brown-yellow or greenish- yellow lip with dark brown stripes, apex pale yellow.
"This is one of four Ecuadorian representatives of sect. Acraea with glabrous petals. It can be distinguished from Pterichis seleniglossa and P. triloba by the relatively short-truncate basal part of the lip (less than 1/3 of the lip lamina). Pterichis tunguraguona resembles P. parvifolia but the petals of P. tunguraguona are shortly unguiculate at the base (vs. non-unguiculate), narrowly ovate above (vs. narrowly-oblong), distinctly wider than the sepals (vs. narrower than sepals). Moreover, its lip is transversely elliptic, semi-lunate at the base (vs. lip basal part semi-orbicular) and papillate along the apical margins and at the apex, and the apical part of the lip is ligulate-lanceolate (vs. triangular). Distal lip margins are papillate and densely ornamented by numerous, swollen outgrowths, which are missing in P. tunguraguona." Kolanowska 2021
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Synopsis of Ecuadorian Pterichis [Orchidaceae] Kolanowska 2021 ;
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